Ellen's Alien Game

Object Oriented Programming in Python

If you have been programming in a functional, declarative, or imperative style, shifting focus to object oriented programming (OOP) may feel a bit foreign. An OOP approach asks the programmer to think about modeling a problem as one or more objects that interact with one another, keep state, and act upon data. Objects can represent real world entities (such as cars or cats) - or more abstract concepts (such as integers, vehicles, or mammals). Each object becomes a unique instance in computer memory and represents some part of the overall model.

Classes

Classes are the definitions of new object types, and from which new instances of objects are created. They often bundle data with code or functions that operate on that data. In this sense, classes are blueprints or sets of instructions from which many objects of a similar type can be built and used. A complex program can have many classes, each building many different flavors of objects. The process of building an object from a class is known as instantiation (or creating an instance of the class).

A class definition in Python is straightforward:

class MyClass:
    # Class body goes here

Class Attributes

Class fields (otherwise known as properties, attributes, data members, or variables) can be added to the body of the class:

class MyClass:
    number = 5
    string = "Hello!"

An instance (object) of MyClass can be created and bound to a name by calling the class (in the same way a function is called):

>>> new_object = MyClass()

# Class is instantiated and resulting object is bound to the "new_object" name.
# Note: the object address 'at 0x15adc55b0' will vary by computer.
>>> new_object
<__main__.MyClass at 0x15adc55b0>

Class attributes are shared across all objects (or instances) created from a class, and can be accessed via dot notation - a . placed after the object name and before the attribute name:

>>> new_object = MyClass()

# Accessing the class attribute "number" via dot-notation.
>>> new_object.number
5

# Accessing the class attribute "string" via dot-notation.
>>> new_object.string
'Hello!'

# Instantiating an additional object and binding it to the "second_new_object" name.
>>> second_new_object = MyClass()

>>> second_new_object
# Note: the object address "at 0x15ad99970" will vary by computer.
<__main__.MyClass at 0x15ad99970>

# Second_new_object shares the same class attributes as new_object.
>>> new_object.number == second_new_object.number
True

Class attributes are defined in the body of the class itself, before any other methods. They are owned by the class - allowing them to be shared across instances of the class. Because these attributes are shared, their value can be accessed and manipulated from the class directly. Altering the value of class attributes alters the value for all objects instantiated from the class:

>>> obj_one = MyClass()
>>> obj_two = MyClass()

# Accessing a class attribute from an object.
>>> obj_two.number
5

# Accessing the class attribute from the class itself.
>>> MyClass.number
5

# Modifying the value of the "number" class attribute.
>>> MyClass.number = 27

# Modifying the "number" class attribute changes the "number" attribute for all objects.
>>> obj_one.number
27

>>> obj_two.number
27

Having a bunch of objects with synchronized data at all times is not particularly useful. Fortunately, objects created from a class can be customized with their own instance attributes (or instance properties, variables, or fields). As their name suggests, instance attributes are unique to each object, and can be modified independently.

Customizing Object Instantiation with __init__()

The special "dunder method" (short for "double underscore method") __init__() is used to customize class instances, and can be used to initialize instance attributes or properties for objects. For its role in initializing instance attributes, __init__() is also referred to as a class constructor or initializer. __init__() takes one required parameter called self, which refers to the newly initialized or created object. Data for instance attributes or properties can then be passed as arguments of __init__(), following the self parameter.

Below, MyClass now has instance attributes called location_x and location_y. As you can see, the two attributes have been assigned to the first and second indexes of the location (a tuple) argument that has been passed to __init__(). The location_x and location_y attributes for a class instance will now be initialized when you instantiate the class, and an object is created:

class MyClass:
    # These are class attributes, variables, or fields.
    number = 5
    string = "Hello!"

    # This is the class "constructor", with a "location" parameter that is a tuple.
    def __init__(self, location):

        # This is an instance or object property, attribute, or variable.
        # Note that we are unpacking the tuple argument into two separate instance variables.
        self.location_x = location[0]
        self.location_y = location[1]

# Create a new object "new_object_one", with object property (1, 2).
>>> new_object_one = MyClass((1, 2))

# Create a second new object "new_object_two" with object property (-8, -9).
>>> new_object_two = MyClass((-8, -9))

# Note that new_object_one.location_x and new_object_two.location_x two different values.
>>> new_object_one.location_x
1

>>> new_object_two.location_x
-8

Note that you only need to pass one argument when initializing MyClass above -- Python takes care of passing self when the class is called.

Methods

A method is a function that is bound to either the class itself (known as a class method, which will be discussed in a later exercise) or an instance of the class (object). Methods that operate on an object (instance) need to be defined with self as the first parameter. You can then define the rest of the parameters as you would for a "normal" or non-bound function:

class MyClass:
    number = 5
    string = "Hello!"

    # Class constructor.
    def __init__(self, location):
        # Instance properties
        self.location_x = location[0]
        self.location_y = location[1]

    # Instance method. Note "self" as first parameter.
    def change_location(self, amount):
        self.location_x += amount
        self.location_y += amount
        return self.location_x, self.location_y

Like attribute access, calling a method simply requires putting a . after the object name, and before the method name. The called method does not need a copy of the object as a first parameter -- Python fills in self automatically:

class MyClass:
    number = 5
    string = "Hello!"

    def __init__(self, location):
        self.location_x = location[0]
        self.location_y = location[1]

    def change_location(self, amount):
        self.location_x += amount
        self.location_y += amount
        return  self.location_x, self.location_y

# Make a new test_object with location (3,7)
>>> test_object = MyClass((3,7))
>>> (test_object.location_x, test_object.location_y)
(3,7)

# Call change_location to increase location_x and location_y by 7.
>>> test_object.change_location(7)
(10, 14)

Class attributes can be accessed from within instance methods in the same way that they are accessed outside of the class:

class MyClass:
    number = 5
    string = "Hello!"

    def __init__(self, location):
        self.location_x = location[0]
        self.location_y = location[1]

    # Alter instance variable location_x and location_y
    def change_location(self, amount):
        self.location_x += amount
        self.location_y += amount
        return  self.location_x, self.location_y

    # Alter class variable number for all instances from within an instance.
    def increment_number(self):
        # Increment the 'number' class variable by 1.
        MyClass.number += 1


>>> test_object_one = MyClass((0,0))
>>> test_object_one.number
5

>>> test_object_two = MyClass((13, -3))
>>> test_object_two.increment_number()
>>> test_object_one.number
6

Placeholding or Stubbing Implementation with Pass

In previous concept exercises and practice exercise stubs, you will have seen the pass keyword used within the body of functions in place of actual code. The pass keyword is a syntactically valid placeholder - it prevents Python from throwing a syntax error for an empty function or class definition. Essentially, it is a way to say to the Python interpreter, 'Don't worry! I will put code here eventually, I just haven't done it yet.'

class MyClass:
    number = 5
    string = "Hello!"

    def __init__(self, location):
        self.location_x = location[0]
        self.location_y = location[1]

    # Alter instance variable location_x and location_y
    def change_location(self, amount):
        self.location_x += amount
        self.location_y += amount
        return  self.location_x, self.location_y

    # Alter class variable number for all instances
    def increment_number(self):
        # Increment the 'number' class variable by 1.
        MyClass.number += 1

    # This will compile and run without error, but has no current functionality.
    def pending_functionality(self):
       # Stubbing or placholding the body of this method.
       pass